US Open 2018: Novak Djokovic wraps up third US Open title

In the men’s final of the 2018 US Open, Novak Djokovic defeated Juan Martin del Potro to win his 14th career major title.

Novak Djokovic wrapped up his great summer with an impressive performance in the US Open men’s final against Juan Martin del Potro. On Arthur Ashe Stadium, He defeated the Argentine in straight sets (6-3, 7-6, 6-3) to win his third US Open and his 14th career Grand Slam title.

With the win, Djokovic has now tied Pete Sampras for third on the all-time Grand Slams list. The only two players with more Grand Slam titles than him are Rafael Nadal (17) and Roger Federer (20). Plus, the Serbian has now won 34 of his last 38 matches dating back to May.

Coming into this match, the key was going to be for del Potro to dictate play with his serve and forehand. In the first set, he won 12 of the 18 points on his first serve. However, Djokovic had a slightly better percentage (15-for-19) and converted on his only break point opportunity to secure the set.

The second set was a physical one as the two players were on the court for 95 minutes. Djokovic was able to win the tiebreak 7-4 to secure a two-set lead. One of the keys for him in that set was getting his points at the net. He was 13-for-16 on net points (81 percent).

While del Potro fought back in the third set and even broke back, Djokovic was able to get the deciding break at 4-3 and was able to hold the final service game to win the match. Here is how Djokovic won the match with championship point:

For Djokovic, he got better as the tournament progressed. He lost a set in two of his first three matches. After the third round, he did not lose a single set as he was able to outlast a fan favorite in Del Potro. His ability to defend was a key in this match as he is one of the best defenders on the ATP Tour.

After a rough start to his season, Djokovic will go into the 2019 Australian Open in January looking to win his third straight major. The big three continue to dominate this era of men’s tennis and it doesn’t show any signs of slowing down anytime soon.